Posted by Tom Broome on 1/13/2008, 9:59 am, in reply to "Growth Medium"
205.188.117.67
--Previous Message--
: In your article, Growth Medium, you
: mention Kurt Decker's soil mix. It
: was made up of 40% Canadian peat,
: 30% coarse sand, 20% saw dust, and
: 10% Perlite. I have several
: questions about making up my own
: "home-made" mix. Do you
: have any recommendations for sawdust
: from a particular tree? Are there
: any that should not be used in a
: "home made" growth medium?
: Are there any other specifics
: regarding any of these ingredients
: that you could elaborate on? And
: finally, are these percentages buy
: volume, weight or some other
: measure?
:
If you read the article again, you will see that I use cypress sawdust in particular. Also, amounts are figured by volume not weight because the sand is very heavy amd would be way too much when looking at the mix.
Ok, the best thing is to break down what I use and why. The Canadian peat holds a lot of moisture, which can be a problem when you use too much, or wtaer too much. The main reason to use this is that it breaks down very slowly and holds a good pH for a long time. The sand, especially well point sand helps with drainage. Some people will say yes, but sand holds water too, and they would be right, but this drains well. The cypress sawdust in particular also breaks down slowly and is insect resistant. Fences and fence posts are made of cypress around here because of this. The cypress sawdust holds moisture, but no where near as much as the peat and doesn't break down. There are other wood products that might work as well if you are in other areas, but I haven't tried all these types that aren't easy to find here in my part of Florida. It is possible that cedar, or redwood might work as well. The perlite helps in aeration and some pour space. There are so many possibilities to make your own soil, my article just helps explain what makes a better soil, especially compared to what is used here in Florida. I probably wrote this article 10 years ago now, for a newsletter by the Broward Palm and Cycad Society. It probably needs to be done over and expanded, but I am thinking that I might just write a book and use all the information I have learned over the last 6 to 10 years since I started writing these articles. I have learned to do many things that I haven't written an article about, or have not put on the website yet, such as my organic way to treat and kill Asian scale that works very well and has now been tested by many other people. At least people won't have to throw away their sagos any more. Anyone who is a member of The Cycad Society just saw the new article in the December newsletter.
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